Sunday, November 9, 2008

NASCAR's Sunday Pre-Race TV Shows

The familiar pattern of pre-race TV programming is about to repeat itself for the next-to-last time this Sunday.

ESPN2's NASCAR Now kicks things off at 10AM with an hour of news and highlights. The stories of the Sprint Cup Series should dominate, but there have been two races this weekend and fans should expect to see the highlights. The much improved Ryan Burr will be hosting with driver Boris Said.

Next on the list is Tradin' Paint on SPEED. Veteran journalist Mike Mulhern stops by for thirty minutes of conversation with host John Roberts and panelist Kyle Petty. Expect a major re-vamp of this show before next season.

Larry McReynolds continues to plug away with NASCAR Performance. This week starting at Noon, McReynolds along with Chad Knaus and Bootie Barker talk tech and answer a ton of viewer emails. This is SPEED's most interactive show and it really puts a spotlight on the lack of viewer input on SPEED's other NASCAR programming.

All season long, hosts Adam Alexander and Randy Pemberton have been working hard on the first season of NASCAR in a Hurry. This show uses all the video from Friday and Saturday to set the table for Sunday. It is a fast-paced review that has been finding its legs and taking shape as a show that can survive for next season. NASCAR in a Hurry comes along at 12:30PM.

Roberts rolls-out the franchise for SPEED as he hosts another two-hour edition of NASCAR RaceDay at 1PM. This show has grown into a monster and Roberts works very hard to keep the program flowing and the panelists under control. Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace continue to be crowd favorites with their own unique style and relationship.

This week, reporter Wendy Venturini interviews Carl Edwards for her Real Deal segment. Jimmie Johnson will also be interviewed live, and veteran owner Richard Childress will stop by to talk about his plans for 2009. This weekend at PIR, SPEED opened a new sports bar in cooperation with the track. Rutledge Wood will be reporting from the SPEED Cantina.

All these programs are designed to lead-up to ABC's NASCAR Countdown show and subsequent race coverage. Those programs will begin at 3PM.

This post will serve to host your comments about the pre-race shows on SPEED and ESPN2. We will also answer any questions you might have about the Sunday NASCAR TV coverage. To add your comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

I do hope that they do some changes to not only the format of Trading Paint, but to the Countdown shows especially on ESPN. There is no reason that those shows need to be an hour long and look forward to seeing what next season will bring us too.

The 2 major reasons I want count down shows to be 30 minutes. 1 So Wendy can walk the grid on RaceDay. 2 An extra 30 minutes to get things done before I sit down to watch everything Nascar on Sunday (or Saturday)

I used to be so excited for race day. Sad when the one thing you use as an escape from the everyday problems is as depressing!!!

I had NN now on this am, normally don't watch, but pretty tired after 9 1/2 drive from Vegas yesterday. Blah, blah, blah. I like Nicole...why is she there for a 2 minute report. Ryan Burr is ok, but Nicole should be the primary on NN during the week and Sunday.

I have an idea for ESPN. Given the economic problems, why don't they cut down the crew and save a ton of money. AB in booth with AP and DJ. They can do the pre show, 30 minutes only, since there are always set pieces and pit road interviews.

I like Ray E because he has good insight and offers different perspectives. Yes, I know some dislike him because of past indiscretions. But, I did somethings in my life that I am not too proud of. Let he who is without sin......

Get rid of TB in tech center. Maybe Ray can help with pre show and do tech center.

If they want to keep Shannon and Jaime send them to pit reporter school over the off season. Or better yet, tell them to watch Wendy Venturini tapes.

Speaking of, tell the booth to watch the truck races and SPEED/Fox for qualifying and practice.

Ok, off the soapbox. I just used to be sad when race season was over and now I'm not!

NASCAR better get their affairs in order about the COT issues, the CHASE (sick of it before it started due to over saturation) and THINK about travel plans, testing costs for all teams...and make things affordable for the fan base.

I am actually looking forward to WT tonight as Bill Weber is on! I know he hosts different racing but I enjoyed TNT this year....wish they had the money to get the contract away from PSPN. :-)

John, I think the post-race is part of the national broadcast, it's been part of the schedule for weeks, listed as a Post-Race show... 7-7:30PM on the East Coast, showing up for me here in Michigan. espntv.com has it in their listings as well.

A minor correction if I may. The "sounds of NASCAR" are a result of the host network. In fact the "effects mix" used by SPEED for all their on track shows at these multi-network weekends, Trucks/Nationwide/Sprint are done in the host network truck and provided to the broadcast partner that is on the air. Both the ESPN and FOX audio teams have multiple Emmys for their efforts in this arena. And yes I too think they are the best in all of television.

I think I'm just tired of hearing about how JJ is going to lose and Carl has a good chance to win. I'm a JJ fan and it's giving me a headache. At this point I can't tell anymore if it's media hype or reality